CHASSEPOT Rifle

[No_1]

Who was asking about the CHASSEPOT rifle in chat last night? I would like to see the pics of it. My Guns Of The World (1972) version shows one under the French listing.

[45nut]

That was me Robert..here are the pics..
http://www.hunt101.com/img/308974.jpg
http://www.hunt101.com/img/308975.jpg
http://www.hunt101.com/img/308976.jpg
http://www.hunt101.com/img/308977.jpg
Thanks for whatever anyone can come up with.....

[Pop_No_Kick]

That was me Robert..here are the pics..
http://www.hunt101.com/img/308974.jpg
http://www.hunt101.com/img/308975.jpg
http://www.hunt101.com/img/308976.jpg
http://www.hunt101.com/img/308977.jpg
Thanks for whatever anyone can come up with.....

Hmmm. The main gun off a battle tank...

I'm interested what ya'll find out about this...

is that button pulled rifling ?? ... or damascus steel
Pedistol mounted (Hmmm. ship/boat)
If i run across i forward the info to ya.
45 nut I'm not sure what end i want to be on when that launcher goes off....

I (family) have a very old one,
(not the same),

Maybe you got a one of a kind.
i'm interested what ya'll find out about this...

is that button pulled rifling ?? ... or damascus steel
if i run across i forward the info to ya.

chuck

[Frank46]

Robert, first off I think what you have is what is referred to as a wall or fortress gun. The pintle hanging down from the stock would fit into a corresponding socket on a wall. And from the pictures you have the bore appears to be way bigger than 11mm or so. WAY BIGGER!!!!!!!!. The chassepot was a french bolt action service rifle. This looks like an earlier version. The swivel breechblock reminds me of the hall rifle which had a similar arrangement and was a flintlock. You pour the bowder into the block, stuff a ball on top of the powder, close the block and cock the hammer and boom.Frank

[shooter575]

Hey nut,A wall gun sometimes called a rampart gun is what it is.I have seen 4 or 5 of them and every one was diffrent.But all had the tip up breech and were rifled.Calaber was in the .75 to 1.0. They would use a paper cartridge and round ball. Most were made in Belgum or France for use in African colonies. Ya gonna shoot her? We want a range report! :]

[Frank46]

Robert, not trying to be funny but where did you come up with the name chassepot?, is that cannon so marked. The french had a bolt action rifle by that name and if the old brain cells still work was in 11mm caliber. Is that a crew served weapon?. All kidding aside if you plan on shooting that thing, have someone with a video camera standing by. Guess you'll need a strong wall to shoot it from. The chinese used something similar think it was called "jingal" or something like that. Frank

[No_1]

Robert, not trying to be funny but where did you come up with the name chassepot?, is that cannon so marked. The french had a bolt action rifle by that name and if the old brain cells still work was in 11mm caliber. Is that a crew served weapon?. All kidding aside if you plan on shooting that thing, have someone with a video camera standing by. Guess you'll need a strong wall to shoot it from. The chinese used something similar think it was called "jingal" or something like that. Frank

Morning Frank,

It is not me with the rifle. It is 45nut. He was asking about it in chat one night. I found a french rifle called a chassepot in an old book of mine which is as you describe, 11mm and such. I was posting here because when he showed the pics, I missed them.

I have to agree with the others in the thought that it is some sort of boat or fort gun. I will go out on a limb and say that since it is a rifled barrel, it may have been design for shooting at the waterline of small boats that were trying to go up river.

Skeaking of big ole guns, a friend of mine had a cannon one time that was not real big but not real small. The bore was the size we could shoot tennis balls from it. We loaded it with 1lb of 3F or 4F powder (It has been so long I cannot remember), stuffed it with newspaper and then various object to see what happened. Tennis balls would explode as soon as they left the barrel. We got smart and filled the balls with small packs of BB's and then we had fun. We tried different color balls cause when you shot them, they took off into the sky still gaining altitude as they went out of sight and we wanted to see how far they would go. Somebody came up with a coffee can full of ball bearings. They were about 1/2" in dia. We loaded it with powder, paper and bearings and shot it at a line of dumpsters that was lined up on a dirt road. It was placed on the ground about 10' aways from the first. The first 3 had holes on both sides the size of basketballs. the next 3 caught some of the bearings as they tried to get through. but some made it all the way. Another time we shot it just with powder and paper wad at a old telephone pole that was stuck on the ground ( the kind you find at the boat landings ). The cannon was sitting about 2' from the post. When the smoke cleared, the post had necked down to about 6 inches and the grass was on fire for about 15 feet in front of the cannon. What fun we had when we were young....

[Frank46]

Robert that sure is an interesting tale about the cannon. I was at vallet forge
many years ago and in the museum they had a nice selection of small cannons. There was one really nice one in brass with about an inch bore. I asked the security guard if I could pick it up and if I did could take it home.
Well he guessed that I couldn't pick it up much less walk out the door with it.
Which I proceeded to do. The poor guy almost had a stroke. Sad to say I had to put it back. Darn. Your escapades with your cannon were fun to say the least. We had a guy down here who made such a golf ball cannon. One of the local sugar mills had complained to the sherrif that they were having the skylights broken and that they were finding golf balls all over the place.
Sufficed to say the cannon was never used again for obvious reasons. Frank

[No_1]

Those were interesting days for sure. That cannon had a retangular base to it. It was not REAL heavy but it sure took all that 2 of us had to put it in the trunk. It was mounted on a rectangular base that had holes for mounting the base down and had maybe an elevation of ~20 degrees or so. The bore was pretty rusty (chunks) and everytime we shot it is came a little cleaner. I believe that with another 100 or so shots we could have started shooting filled soda cans from it. The place where the fuse went was a threaded peice that screwed into the base of the barrel. The local machine shop had to make a replacement for it once cause it blew out when we stuffed it too full. Those who saw it speculated that it was either a salute cannon or a cannon used to shoot out the waterline of offending boats.

[waksupi]

Well, I got a message back from my collector buddy. Although he hasn't ever seen that particular gun, he thinks it's possible it was a naval rigging gun. I imagine to launch a light line, whereas a heavier line or rope could be run up? I don't know.

[Frank46]

Robert, your cannon sounds like a lyle gun. Was developed to shoot lines to ships from the beach. Once the lines were set up a breeches buoy or seat could be rigged up and people could be rescued from the ship. I was at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in new york and they had a few on display. The square or rectangular base you mentioned was what was on these guns. So maybe that is what you were shooting??. Frank

[No_1]

Frank,
That might have been the original intentions for that cannon. We never really tried hard to figure out what it's original use was. We just had fun shooting it! I remember fondly of figuring the fuse time, parking the car about 30-40 feet away, lighting the fuse then running like hell to get behind the car. Counting down the time, waiting for the "BOOM" then going out to see the grass burning in front of it...